Friday, August 3, 2007

Jack and Jill Politics Highlights Obama's "Hip Hop" Connections

I felt cooler after receiving a press release from Vibe about their new cover starring Barack Obama. They say:

"For the first time in VIBE's 14-year history, a political figure graces our cover," says editor-in-chief Danyel Smith in her Editor's Letter. "It's time." In the exclusive interview — by American Book Award-winning author Jeff Chang — Obama and those closest to him open up about personal sacrifice, his teen years in Hawai'i, the Don Imus backlash against hip hop, and being "black enough." The two cover images were photographed exclusively for VIBE by renowned lensman Terry Richardson.

So Obama is sharing the same space that usually features people like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Akon, P.Diddy, Rihanna and Mary J. Blige. Like him or hate him, he's got an unusual populism happening around him. A cool factor. Can you imagine Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson on the cover of Vibe?